Philwiki:Policies and Guidelines
In order to establish an effective, fair, and accurate encyclopedic knowledgebase about Philmont Scout Ranch Philwiki has developed, based on the policies of Wikipedia and the Scout Oath and Law http://www.scouting.org/factsheets/02-503a.html, a system of policies and guidelines. Philwiki is not an anarchy - or even a democracy. Philwiki has specific authorities, and not every case can be considered individually. To that end, Philwiki has its policies to maintain order and fairness on Philwiki. Philwiki also has guidelines, which are not strict rules, but rather are more like preferred ways to edit and act on Philwiki. Policies of Philwiki Content *'Philwiki is an encyclopedic knowledgebase.' Philwiki exists for the sole purpose of compiling a thorough and useful knowledgebase about Philmont Scout Ranch. The value of Philwiki could be immense, if all users commit to this policy, and is based on the assumption that there are enough well-intentioned people out there to make it happen. Conversely, if a user is harming or otherwise impeding Philwiki, he or she may be banned. See also Philwiki:What Philwiki is not. *'Philwiki is about Philmont.' Please stick to information regarding only Philmont or Philmont-related activities. Some deviance is acceptable, relating to things in that are either affiliated to Philmont, like the Boy Scouts of America, or applicable to Philmont, like the Laws of New Mexico or broad historical events that affected Philmont. If you must include other material, then consider linking to Wikipedia instead. *'Philwiki belongs to everyone.' Philwiki is licensed under the GNU FDL, while its content can be edited by anyone. You may have created a page, but it does not belong to you. Likewise, feel free to copy, reference, and reproduce the contents of Philwiki. *'Philwiki is neutral.' Philwiki aims to present facts as objectively as possible. While there are very few hot topics about Philwiki, there are disputes and arguments in articles. Please present both sides and abstain from passing judgment in all situations. *'Philwiki is not censored.' Philwiki is an open website that deals objectively with a wide variety of subjects, some of which are offensive or objectionable. Philwiki must discuss all aspects of Philmont and its related entities, even if some are controversial. Pilwiki has developed a system of warning readers about offensive matters. Widespread attempts to "clean up" Philwiki are vandalism and will lead to a warning. Legality and affiliations *'Non-affiliation of Philwiki.' Philwiki is not affiliated with Philmont Scout Ranch, the Boy Scouts of America, the Philmont Staff Association, or any other related group. Philwiki belongs to everyone, and is hosted by Wikicities. Please do not introduce bias regarding any related organizations. *'Respect copyrights.' Copyrights secure the intellectual property of individuals, to ensure that rightful commerce can be derived. Respect that right and give credit where due. Plagarism, the deliberate copying of material without the author's permission is completely forbidden. These things are illegal and harm Philwiki. *'Philwiki cannot be liable for misinformation.' Philwiki is an attempt at providing accurate information and simply cannot be guaranteed to be accurate. As such, Philwiki is not liable for its content. If you find errors or inappropriate content, fix the situation accordingly. See also Philwiki's disclaimers. Community *'Treat others with respect.' All contributors are trying to help Philwiki. Be kind and help them or warn them politely. Welcome new individuals. Vandals are likewise not targets for attacks, since this is just unproductive; tell an administrator and they will be warned or blocked. *'Assume good faith.' Most people, even if they act rudely or make newbie mistakes are trying to help. Give them the benefit of the doubt until you can be sure that there is a problem, and help them learn about Philwiki. *'Do not vandalize Philwiki.' Vandalism is the intentional modification of articles as an attempt ot harm Philwiki, cause mischief, or harm others through Philwiki. Importantly, there must be a clear intent do lower the quality of Philwiki, and if you notice something, Assume good faith until you can be sure. This is one of the largest issues for Philwiki. Philwiki *'Use deletion appropriately.' There are very specific rules for deletion. Check that the article is not appropriate for Philwiki before posting it at the candidates for deletion page. The article will then be voted on for deletion, and an administrator will delete it if there is consensus to do so. Articles that are clearly in violation of the standards can be nominated for speedy deletion. *'merge or split articles as needed.' Sometimes articles are too small or too insignificant to stand on their own, however they provide good information about a similar or overlapping article that is qualified. Conversely, articles might become too large and complicated, with numerous sections that could deserve separate articles. Consider this option when suggesting an article for deletion. *'Use links, lists, categories, and series boxes to organize articles.' Philwiki has standardized tools to make organization and navigation efficient and easy to use. Please use these often, but avoid overuse and make sure that use of any lists or categories follows the organization policies. *'Follow the administrator guidelines.' This only applies to those with sysop status, those with administrator or bureaucrat status, who manage the operation of Philwiki. Non-administrators may find it useful to look over the rules to ensure that sysops are not overstepping bounds. *'If you object to the rules, begin a debate to adjust them.' You might find that the rules outlined here are either too restrictive or too lax. Feel free to propose changes, but read over the more thorough policy description, before you make any changes, since policies must be approved by bureaucrats and wide consensus. *'Decisions on Philwiki are determined by consensus.' Rather than just a democratic choice of the majority opinion, Philwiki's decisions are decided upon by reaching wording and treatment of material in a way that is agreeable to all. A limited number of decisions, such as arbitration, are made by the lead contributors. Guidelines of Philwiki Behavior *'Adhere to the Scout Oath, Law, Motto, and Slogan.' Although Philwiki is not affiliated with The Boy Scouts of America, these are nice guidelines that are certainly appropriate for a Philmont wiki. Try to follow this at all times; Philwiki will work so much better. *'Be Bold.' Philwiki relies on your contributions. If you see something that needs changing or adding, then fix it yourself. Even if you are mistaken and others delete your changes, at least you tried to help. *'Encourage contribution and avoid attacking newbies.' Everyone once was a newbie on Philwiki. Please be kind and welcoming to new users. Do not bite or discourage contributors, unless they are clearly problematic. The best thing to do when encountering a newbie is to teach them about Philwiki. *'Sign talk contributions.' Please sign talk contributions, so people can respond. This also helps people keep track of conversations, as otherwise discussions can become almost incomprehensible. *'Use user pages simply and responsibly.' User pages are user pages for Philwiki, not for the use of Philmont or a personal webpage. Please avoid numerous subpages or user page sprawl. A user page is not the place to create an appendix to Philwiki with reviews or other material. However, plenty of self-expression is permitted, as long as it is not aggressive or overly large. *'Please use userboxes properly.'. Only userboxes that are relevant to Philmont, Philwiki, or the BSA are appropriate in Philwiki. Feel free to create within those bounds. Content *'Use subpages sparingly.' Subpages are not something really needed in Philwiki. They are completely unacceptable in articles, while talk pages can contain them, as well as a few excepted pages in the "Philwiki" domain, like Philwiki:Articles for deletion. Subpages are useful for storing alternate versions of articles, where they are part of the talk page or a user page. *'Verify material.' Please be reasonably sure that information you are adding is accurate. Even better would be to have looked it up in another source, which you preferably could cite. *'Cite your sources.' Try, whenever you can, to cite your sources in a section at the bottom of an article called "References". This way, facts can be checked. Note, however, that many Philmont guides and resources are very inaccurate. *'Consider notability of content.' Please make sure that what or whomever articles are about really is notable - that is, meaningful and important to many people. *'Give reasonable warning about content.' Philwiki is available to a wide variety of ages and beliefs. Try to give fair warning, using a template, when there is content that pertains to offensive, dangerous, or illegal activities or material. *'Please use Standard American English.' In order to make the encyclopedia accessible to the widest audience, use simple but concise language. American spelling and grammar are preferred. *'Use images appropriately.' Images are very helpful for Philwiki, providing great information. However, too many can clutter the page and slow downloading. Some images may also be inappropriate or unencyclopedic, and so must be avoided. General *'Most Importantly, Don't be a jerk.' Ever. If everyone was truthful, respectful, and focused on the goal of Philwiki, then none of the above policies would need to exist. Category:Philwiki Category:Philwiki policy Category:Philwiki guidelines